New York State Engineer and Surveyor Maps and Profiles Relating to the Western Division of the Erie and Barge Canals
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Overview of the Records
Repository:
New York State Archives
New York State Education Department
Cultural Education Center
Albany, NY 12230
Summary:
This series consists of maps, profiles, cross sections, description sheets, and other information documenting work proposed
and carried out during the enlargement and improvement of the Western Division of the Erie Canal. Included is proposed work
on sections of the lateral canals of the Barge Canal system, especially the Genesee Valley. Maps often note property lines
and owners, cultivated land; and significant buildings/structures. Records are restricted due to fragility.
Creator:
Title:
Maps and profiles relating to the Western Division of the Erie and Barge canals
Quantity:
Inclusive Dates:
1830-1915
Series Number:
B1211
Arrangement
Boxes 1-11 contain numbered maps. Boxes 12-17 contain maps arranged by contract. Boxes 18-38 contain maps given an assigned
number.
Scope and Content Note
The series contains maps, profiles, cross sections, description sheets, and other information documenting work proposed and
carried out during the enlargement and improvement of the Western Division of the Erie Canal. Included is proposed work on
sections of the lateral canals of the Barge Canal system, especially the Genesee Valley Canal.
The State Engineer and Surveyor had responsibility for planning, construction and maintenance of the state's canals, and these
records were created in response to various legislative mandates to survey land, plan routes, estimate costs, and document
canal work (and damages incurred) as it was contracted and carried out. The series is a mix of manuscript maps, tracings,
and blueprint copies; the presence of copies rolled together with originals indicates that these may have been used as working
copies, although annotations are neither frequent nor extensive.
The work depicted spans many years in the development of the state's canal system, from the time of the first canal enlargement,
the "Nine Million Dollar Improvement" of 1895, and the final construction phase on what became the Barge Canal. There is also
a 1908 index map of a 1900 survey showing positions and numbering of maps of the Western Division. The following types of
material are present in the series: blueline maps and profiles, especially of the Barge Canal system, which indicate the boundaries
of state owned lands and which were apparently drawn to establish rights of way; baseline (red line) maps of the canal, drawn
to measure distances along the length of the canal line; survey maps (some labeled "Additional Survey") sometimes using contour
lines, for various canal sections and feeders and including profiles, triangulations, and/or cross sections; topographical
maps of lowlands, highwaters, bodies of water, and some canal sites (e.g., a blueprint copy of a contour map of the Genesee
Valley Park); topographical survey maps showing cultivation of land (meadow, pasture, etc.) often with acreage (added as red
inked annotations), and indications of canal related damage (e.g., "beans--spoiled"; "barley damaged"; "bridge washed away";
"no damage"); numerous profiles, especially of the Genesee Valley Canal, the Western Division of the Erie Canal, and of proposed
canal feeders ranging over several decades;
original description sheets, often with duplicate tracings, of lock, aqueducts, and bridges; and maps and related representations
of proposed canal work, often giving details of work (e.g., rebuilding of dams, proposed new channels, relocation of highways,
draining projects with layouts and profiles, etc.).
Within these categories the maps may have all or some of the following characteristics: title or description of what is represented,
sometimes by type of work, project, or by name/section of canal/feeder or in relation to a particular contract/contractor;
scale, usually as ratio of feet to inches; for profiles the vertical and horizontal scale is often given; specific legends
or explanations of markings used, especially on profiles; initials/names of persons who made, traced, or checked maps or profiles,
sometimes with date; blue lines representing boundaries of state owned land; red lines representing the inner edge of the
towpath, and offset lines from which all measurements along the length of the canal were taken; double or dotted red lines
representing various proposed changes (e.g., in channel or highway); property and lot lines, and name of estate and/or property
owner or heirs; acreage, cultivation of land, significant buildings or canal structures; and references to field notes (by
book and page numbers), final estimate books, roll/map numbers and/or contract numbers or citations from which canal lines
were taken.
Of special note are the description sheets of aqueducts, locks, and bridges on the Western Division of the Erie Canal. These
are hand made tables divided according to section of superstructure and substructure. Information includes name of structure;
date built; original cost; contractor; date inspected; condition; technical specifications of related parts of the superstructure/substructure;
roll number of plans and the place filed; book and page number of final estimates; related information (such as names of streams
crossed, number of spans, clearances for roadways, etc.); and additional remarks. Each description has both a paper original
and an accompanying tracing on architect's linen.
The series reflects the tremendous variety and scope of the canal system it documents. It contains, for example, a profile
of the bottom of a ditch; several plans to improve sanitary conditions; cross sections of bridge approaches; a profile of
a pipeline with a map showing the location of a dam and the pipe; a map of muck limits (bottom soil in a watercourse removed
in excavation); a sheet of borings; an amended map of a portion of the Rochester and Honeoye Valley Railroad; maps showing
leakage and proposed drainage systems; and a blueprint showing the location, kind, and diameter of individual trees in the
Genesee Valley Park. The records are closely related in time and geography to series B0380, Western Division Canal Maps and
Plans, although the emphasis in this series is on maps and profiles rather than plans.
Occasionally extra sheets are present that contain obviously informal sketches and/or random calculations. Originals are drawn
in both color inks and pencil on paper. Profiles are often done in pencil on graphing paper. Tracings are often colored identically
to the originals to which they are related.
Size varies widely. Some profiles are done on continuous roll profile paper; one measures 29 cm high with a rolled diameter
of 11 cm. A sample of maps measured ranged in size from 41 x 61 cm to 91 x 1,036 cm.
The records are indexed in a separate card file (series A4290, Card Index to Western Division Canal Maps, Plans, Estimates,
and Related Structures). It appears that there is no single section of the index that applies solely to this series. It is
sometimes difficult to ascertain which category of the index applies to the various types of material covered in the series,
and it is by no means certain that all the original index cards are extant or that all items present in the series can be
found through the index. The "roll maps" section of the index seems to pertain directly to this series, although some references
were located elsewhere in the index.
Related Material
A4290 Card Index to Western Division Canal Maps, Plans, Estimates, and Related Structures, indexes this series.
Access Restrictions
Restricted due to fragile condition (brittle): use only with assistance of State Archives staff.
Access Terms
Corporate Name(s):
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Subject(s):
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Detailed Description
Dates |
Contents |
Box |
Roll |
Accretion: B1211-85 |
1830-1915 |
Whipspool Creek, Newark |
1 |
122 |
1830-1915 |
Mudcreek Blueprint |
1 |
124 |
1896 |
Lockport Baseline |
1 |
128 |
1888 |
Brighton Break |
2 |
134 |
1830-1915 |
Oak Orchard Creek Feeder |
2 |
135 |
1830-1915 |
Wellsville to Belfast, Genesee Valley Canal (854) |
2 |
138 |
1830-1915 |
Chemung Canal-Seneca Lake Level Tracing (prints #1122) |
2 |
139 |
1895 |
Section 21, Survey |
3 |
140 |
1889 August 26 |
Shelby Basin Break |
3 |
145 |
1830-1915 |
18 Mile Creek - East Branch |
3 |
148 |
1830-1915 |
Lock 60, Lower Macedon |
4 |
151 |
1830-1915 |
Lock 54 (?) |
6 |
157 |
1901 May 15 |
Blueline, Town of Galen, Clyde |
6 |
159 |
1903 |
Genesee River Feeder, Map & cross sections (1 tracing, 2 linens) |
6 |
176 |
1830-1915 |
Original Maps, Chemung Canal, Elmira to Havana |
7 |
181 |
1830-1915 |
Original Maps, Chemung Canal Feeder, from Chemung River to Seneca Lake |
7 |
182 |
1862 |
Allegany River from Genesee Valley at Olean to mouth of Great Valley Creek |
8 |
184 |
1845 |
Map of Lockport, Lots covered with Lock Stones |
8 |
186 |
1830-1915 |
Rapids Dam - proposed rebuilding |
8 |
187 |
1830-1915 |
Profile Mud Creek |
8 |
188 |
1830-1915 |
Map Cast part of Wayne Co. Cayuga Marshes |
9 |
194 |
1830-1915 |
Survey for Feeder from Canandaigua to Palmyra |
9 |
196 |
1830-1915 |
Proposed and Existing Canal Surveys |
10 |
199 |
1904 September 22 |
Profile, Oak Orchard Creek near Lewiston Road - Feeder Mud Creek |
10 |
204 |
1830-1915 |
Profile, Bottom of State Ditch, North side Tonawanda Creek, Town of Wheatfield |
10 |
216 |
1830-1915 |
South Greece Break |
11 |
221A |
1908 May |
South Greece Break |
11 |
221B |
1830-1915 |
Comparative Profiles of Alternate lines |
12 |
6 |
1830-1915 |
Section 14, Lock 56 to 66 profile |
12 |
9 |
1830-1915 |
Lowlands West of Clyde, Jackson Perkins Map |
13 |
47 |
1830-1915 |
Genesee Valley Park |
14 |
59 |
1830-1915 |
Profile on Center Line |
14 |
60 |
1830-1915 |
Profile on Center Line |
14 |
61 |
1830-1915 |
Two sections: 1) Profiles between Henrietta and Westfall Road Crossings and 2) Edgewood Ave. Crossing, Plan & Profile - South
Ave. Bridge and stream crossing
|
15 |
23 |
1909 |
Two sections: 1) Profile on Center Line of Embankment and 2) Map Trail Line, Extreme Southerly Route in vicinity of Fairport |
16 |
63 |
1830-1915 |
Section 8, Plan and Sections of Additional work at Macedon |
17 |
164 |
1830-1915 |
Triangulation near Bushnell's Basin |
18 |
1 |
1896 |
Bridges, 1896 Data, Original Sheets and Tracings, sections 13-17 |
18 |
2 |
1830-1915 |
Bridges Sheets, 1896 Data, Original Sheets and Tracings |
18 |
3 |
1830-1915 |
Cross Sections showing Spoil Bank, Contract #6 |
19 |
4 |
1900 April |
New Home Bridge data, Final Estimates, sections |
19 |
5 |
1830-1915 |
Chemung Canal sections at Divens Ditch |
19 |
6 |
1830-1915 |
Low Level - Fox Ridge to Wayne Port |
19 |
7 |
1830-1915 |
Map showing Proposed Centerline of Canal thru Brockport |
20 |
8 |
1830-1915 |
Profile from NYCRR to South Greece Junction |
20 |
9 |
1830-1915 |
Map showing Route Surveyed for Erie Canal Enlargement - Macedon to Lyons |
20 |
10 |
1907 |
Barge Canal - Fox Ridge to Wayneport |
20 |
11 |
1830-1915 |
Maps of Proposed Genesee River Flood Control |
21 |
12 |
circa 1898 |
Honeoye Outlet, Chap 563, Laws 1898 |
21 |
13 |
circa 1898 |
Honeoye Outlet, Chap. 563, Laws 1898 |
22 |
14 |
1899 |
Cross Sections, Oak Orchard Feeder |
22 |
15 |
1830-1915 |
Profiles of Proposed Lines south west of Rochester |
22 |
16 |
1830-1915 |
Sandy Creek |
23 |
17 |
1830-1915 |
Structure Inspections |
23 |
18 |
1830-1915 |
Maps of Reservoir Site, Gowanda |
24 |
19 |
1830-1915 |
Baseline, Macedon to Rochester |
24 |
20 |
1903 |
Black Creek Profile, etc., Map 3342 |
24 |
21 |
1830-1915 |
Profile, Bull Creek to Pine Street; South Point Road Ditches |
25 |
22 |
1830-1915 |
Plan of Proposed Wooden Bridge, Fillmore |
25 |
23 |
1830-1915 |
Sounding - Wayneport to Fairport |
25 |
24 |
1830-1915 |
Barge Canal Profile, Station 2554-2744 |
25 |
25 |
1830-1915 |
Profile, 12" Pipe Line Gowanda Station 48+00 - 352+00 |
25 |
26 |
1900 April |
Cross Section, Culvert 59 |
26 |
27 |
1830-1915 |
Cross Section, Bridge approaches Nos. 1,2,3,5 |
26 |
28 |
1830-1915 |
Pine and Lock Street Bridge; 430-1900 Parapet Wall |
26 |
29 |
1881 |
Map of Canal Break 2 ½ mi. west of Albion |
26 |
30 |
1906 March 6 |
Topography & Profile - Yb Line Sta. 2150-2190 |
27 |
31 |
1830-1915 |
Layout & Profile - Arkport Drainage Project |
27 |
32 |
1899 June |
Survey of Spencerport Break in Erie Canal |
28 |
33 |
1830-1915 |
Map showing Streams and Ditches in the vicinity of Station 2185 of Yb line |
29 |
34 |
1922 |
Stadia Survey, Lyons Flood |
29 |
35 |
1830-1915 |
New Home Bridge Cross sections, approaches; Erie Basin dredging 635-1898 |
30 |
36 |
1913 |
Map of State Lands in vicinity of Cuba Lake |
31 |
38 |
1896 |
Topography Section 19 |
31 |
39 |
1830-1915 |
Profile of Flood Heights at Corning |
32 |
40 |
1903 |
Profile, Cross Sections, Genesee River, feeder |
32 |
41 |
1830-1915 |
Oak Orchard Creek, feeder |
33 |
42 |
1830-1915 |
Bridges for Section 23 |
34 |
43 |
1893 |
Brighton Break |
34 |
44 |
1900 |
Break at Fairport |
35 |
45 |
1907 |
Spencerport Bridges, Nos. 98 & 99, Layout Map and Profiles of Streets, (preliminary) |
35 |
46 |
1830-1915 |
Lock 72 to Fishers Bridge |
36 |
47 |
1905 |
Map of Genesee River Valley, South of Rochester |
36 |
48 |
1830-1915 |
Profile of Enlargement of Round Pond Creek from culvert 43 to Round Pond |
37 |
49 |
1830-1915 |
Topographical Map, Genesee Valley Park, Park Engineers Barge Canal Site |
37 |
50 |
1906 |
Stratification Profile of Low Level Line from Fox Ridge to Wayne Port |
38 |
51 |
1830-1915 |
Map of Improved Erie Canal from Cartersville Guard Gate to Bushnell's Basin |
38 |
52 |